The Light Behind Your Eyes
by Hadespng
Summary: Check the Description & Disclaimer page for the full summary! Art cover was drawn for this story by bloomprince on tumblr!
1. Description n Disclaimer

**Hello! I am Hades and this is a fanfiction I've been working on for nearly two years! I'm currently under the process of editing and changing it so it is different from the original one. I can't promise it'll update often because I have many other things to do but I do promise to update it! Please note that this is completely different from the original although it does contain a few of the old plot lines!**

**DESCRIPTION: **The start of their second year of high school has begun! The three Ed's yet again failed another scam which ended up worse than previous ones. Double D begins to criticize his friendship with Eddy after a full out fight in the middle of school. Edd's parents are not happy with their son and demand high standards of him. Edd then decides to focus on school and passing his classes rather than being friends and doing scams with Eddy. Like all classes a few take their toll on the smart teen. What will happen when Edd reaches his breaking point? Will there be anyone there to help him?

**DISCLAIMER: **This story is not a supporter of self destructive habits nor does it encourage any self harm towards one self. This is a work of **fiction **and should be seen as it. Please if you're easily triggered by self harm, anorexic/bulimic mentions, child abuse, or attempts on one's life then please do not read this. Go look at kittens or something nice.

**ANOTHER DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Ed, Edd, 'n' Eddy ownership of the characters belongs to the creator Danny Antonnuci. Story belongs to me. Also none of the characters or events are not meant to resemble any real ones!


	2. Chapter One

**A.N. : Well I ended up just finishing off the first chapter! If you like it please let me know or if you find any mistakes. If you wouldn't mind could you tell me how it is? I just am curious! Have a wonderful night everyone!**

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Every day since the start of high school; on the first floor of the east wing men's bathroom he was there. Two sinks down in a row of five; sitting on the cracked marble counter mindlessly pushing the broken button of a soap dispenser. Usually he held the button in for long bursts but randomly he'd break out into what seemed like a tempo of a song. His mullet style hair was pulled back in a very small pony tail, a signature crimson red ball cap sat on his head turned around, and a small bit of fringe stuck out the opening constantly falling into the emerald eyes of it's wearer.

The restroom smelled grossly of an old floral scent. The boy who was sitting on the counter acting like there was nothing better to do with his life was the star quarterback of the school football team. That boy was Kevin Barr an old time bully of three loser dorks of the cul-de-sac. In truth Kevin only hated the leader of the trio, Eddy. The way his annoying shrill voice and stupid plans worked made him angry. The other two weren't so bad. The tall mindless boy was named Ed who often reeked like a dead skunk smothered in guts and gym socks. He was harmless though most of the times unless you made him angry. However it was rare that he'd ever get angry.

Then there was the other one. A tall dorky boy who was probably the smartest kid he ever knew. His name was Eddward Marion Valentine. Eddward was taller than Eddy but only a few inches shorter than Ed. It amused Kevin greatly to see Eddy being towered over by his only friends. Not much was really known about Edd besides his parents rarely being home and being the smartest kid in their class.

Speaking of which the same exact boy happened to walk into the restroom looking down at his hands shaking. His hat was hanging partially off his head revealing a few raven black locks of hair. At first the boy didn't notice Kevin who sat on the counter staring at him. He mumbled to himself about something but Kevin couldn't quite make out what was said. Kevin got a peak at the boy's face which was starting to form a big bruise on it. The nerd's left eye was partially closed as the skin was starting to swell up.

Kevin coughed startling the ravenette. With a cry he stumbled backwards tripping over his own feet. Edd hit the wall with a loud smack and pushed himself into a sitting position, not daring to take his eyes off of the school's biggest bully. The red head chuckled at the sight of the nerd dropping. He scooted off the counter landing with a thud on his feet.

"What happened to your face?" Kevin dusted himself off.

The nerd watched him wide eyed trying to find his voice, "A s-scam with E-Eddy backfired again! I must say good morning Mr. Barr!"

The red head's eyebrow arched up in scrutiny of being called Mr. Only teachers and government officials were allowed to call him that. Edd was always to polite in his manner of speaking. It honestly rubbed Kevin the wrong way most of the time. There wasn't really a point in being so proper anymore and he really wished Edd would stop. Where did he even learn to speak like that? Sure he was smart but he didn't have to show it off. Just thinking about that made Kevin angry.

"Don't call me Mr. Barr. I'm just Kevin. Honestly you don't have to speak properly, you know? Like it's modern day and you should probably get with the lingo, man." Kevin walked slowly over to Edd.

The football star towered over Edd who shrunk into himself visibly. "My apologies! I did not mean to upset you at all. I am very sorry."

At that time the bathroom door swung open and Eddy stalked in steaming with Ed following behind him like usual. The two pushed past the football star and stood in front of their friend. Kevin growled but was ignored by the shorter Ed.

"Hey dorks I was having a conversation with him. I wasn't done yet." Kevin tapped Eddy on the shoulder.

"Yeah well it looks like you hit my friend!" Eddy grabbed Edd's wrist and pulled him up roughly. The nerd grimaced but didn't say anything.

"Eddy, please, it wasn't Kevin's doing! Please don't turn this into something that you know it's not." The ravenette begged while tugging for his wrist to be let go.

Eddy pulled Edd down to his eye level and snarled. "What did you say?"

Kevin stared at the interaction that was going on before him. The short poorly dressed Ed had his black hair slicked back with some kind of grease, his clothes were baggy, and he smelled like cheap cologne. The taller Ed stood there with a blank smiling face as per usual, his clothing stained from god's know what, and he looked like he hadn't showered for a few months. The nerd Ed was wearing his usual pull over brown sweater with a dorky tie, purple pants, and his signature blue shoes. The bruise on his face had finally become completely noticeable.

"Kevin did not hit me if that is what you are implying Eddy! Earlier this morning, when the contraption that you had me build broke, it hit me square in the face. Honestly if you paid attention you would have known that it was my own fault!" The taller Ed took his wrist back and rubbed it softly. His light blue eyes glanced over at Kevin who seemed bored but angry. Kevin's eyes met with the blue pair and watched the pair as they glanced back to their friend.

Eddy looked over at the red head eyeing him up and down. "Well alright if you say so sockhead. But if you ever lay a hand on my friend," Eddy turned his attention to Kevin, "I'll have to beat the shit out of you."

Kevin broke out into a hearty laugh wiping his eyes as tears formed. "Like I ever want to be around you dorks! Eddy you're pathetic all you do is try to scam people. You probably would have had friends by now instead of these losers. Ed you smell like a garbage can took a shit on you! Do you ever shower? And Double Dork, you're probably the stupidest person I've ever met. There's a reason why no one likes you three. Honestly do yourselves a favour and get lost. The whole cul-de-sac is better off without you!"

The red head laughed more as he left the bathroom leaving the trio in a stunned silence. Double D ended up brushing himself off. The germs of a bathroom are really contagious and he knew for a fact that bathroom never gets cleaned properly. Eddy began talking about his next plan that would for sure work. It involved both Ed's mental and physical abilities with specifics already laid out. Edd started to tune them out and focused on washing his hands throughly. Was he really not as smart as he prided himself to be? Surely not for he worked very hard in all his classes and never spent more than an hour not studying or doing something productive with his mind.

"Come on Double D, we're going to be late for homeroom. You can be a germphobe later." Eddy tugged his friend away from the sink and out of the bathroom.

The hallways were alive with hundreds of students going to their classes. It honestly warmed Edd's heart to see people in the school trying their best. While there was those who disliked learning, there was a lot of them who tried really hard in their classes. So many minds working hard to fulfill their dreams. It was great!

The Ed's walked through the crowds talking about homework and what they were planning on doing after school. Ed had to watch Sarah, his little sister, while his parents were out of town. Sarah wasn't exactly little anymore however. She was a freshman in highschool only a year younger than Ed. She was liked already by a majority of the student population. Her best friend was Jimmy, he used to be constantly sick and had to wear braces. At the start of this year however he recovered and was able to get his braces removed.

Eddy had to go home right after school because he was still grounded from the summer. He had borrowed his parent's car without their consent and ended up totalling it. He always went on a rant about how unfair they were being to him. It wasn't his fault he didn't see the other car while he was pulling out.

As for Edd, he would attend to his different activities after school. Helping the school nurse organize files and helping the librarian fix up the piles of damaged books. There was the flyers and papers that teachers needed printed out for the next day. The nerd loved doing things for the school and often didn't get home until late. Not that his parents cared at all; they were the one to push onto him the idea of being constantly working and maintaining a good standing with people. However after school activities he would go home and deep clean the entire house before turning to his own homework that was always done perfectly.

Edd never minded always working and cleaning. His parents were rarely home and he needed to be busy to fill the quiteness of his own home. Said nerd was shaken out of his thoughts as the bell rang signalling class to start. Without really remembering the walk to class he found himself ready for learning and participating. Today was the day they got their new class schedules since there was a major computer error at the beginning of the school year. Of course it was only a month into the new school year but it still was a month into the courses. Teachers were advised to be ready if they received or lost students from their classes.

The schedules were passed out at the start of the class as attendance roll call. Each student had to go up and grab their paper. It was interesting to watch as the students faces would light up with joy or darken in hate. When Edd's name was called he hurridly went up to grab his schedule. He had requested AP classes for this quarter instead of the physical education he was placed in. As he scanned the paper he was relieved to find he had two AP classes, a higher mathematics class, but there was still gym on the schedule. It was moved to his last period class. Edd pouted a bit but tried to cheer himself up with the idea of AP classes. Biology and English were going to be a breeze and that math class they had given him would be dust. He had study hall between Biology and English for an hour then his math class and a computer class as his elective and to finish off was gym.

Eddy and Ed pulled up chairs around Edd's desk to talk about their new schedules. The instructor had stepped out to go print one of the student's schedule. The nerd was extremely relieved to find that he shared the computer class and gym with his two best friends.

"Hey sockhead, does this hurt?" Eddy poked at his friend's bruised eye.

Double D gasped as he coiled away from the finger. "Eddy, please do not bother my eye. It is extremely painful."

Eddy laughed but scooted closer. It was Ed who spoke up, "Double Dee, are you sure Kevin didn't hurt you? We weren't working on the project this morning and that bruise is fresh."

The nerd looked down at his schedule trying to make out the words with his damaged eye. "I fell this morning and hit the counter. It's really embarrassing! I did not want to tell anybody as it is we are already the main targets of the bullies here."

"That's true sockhead but you promise it wasn't Kevin or _you know_?" Eddy spoke in a softer tone looking over at the oaf of a friend who was folding his schedule into a paper plane.

Double D smiled at his friend's simple plane, "I promise it wasn't either of them."

Ed threw his plane which circled around the room and landed with a thwak against a cabinent. The group laughed together each having something on the back of their mind. Edd began talking to Eddy about his excitement for the AP classes he was given while Ed fetched his plane.

"Honestly sockhead you're way too smart for these classes like no one here takes AP classes for fun. But then there's you." Eddy said mindlessly checking out the girls in the classroom.

"Am I really that smart? I mean there are many others who work really hard for AP classes." Edd blurted quietly thinking back to the incident. He really just wanted to be reassured he wasn't stupid.

"Are you really worried about what Kevin said? You know he was just harrasing you because he's not smart like you." Eddy winked and received a giggle from a girl in the back of the room.

Edd smiled and stuck his tongue between the gap in his teeth. "You are right, Eddy. I am worrying for no reason."

The bell rang signalling for the students to go to their new classes. Edd felt a sense of excitement as he quickly packed up and wished his friends farewell until their next meeting at lunch. Eddy was right and he was worrying to much about being called stupid. After all is someone stupid when they have aced all of their classes and won so many spelling bee trophies?

The day went by uneventfull of anything else. The last bell rang and Edd found himself leaving school earlier than anticipated. The nurse and librarian had things to do thus making it a day off for the nerd's extra activities. He collected his books and walked out the front doors of the school by himself. Edd took a deep breath of the fresh air and begun his trek to his house. Walking was always a favourite activity of his. All the things he got to see and experience was something he found to be enjoyable. On the occasions that something extraordinary happened he wrote them down in a small journal he kept on him.

Today was going to be one of those days he wrote down as he found himself suddenly joined by Kevin. It was so unusual that Edd had to look around and double check that he wasn't being pranked. Kevin stood there with a neutral look on his face.

"Salutations Kevin! What may I do for you?" Edd gripped his messenger bag strap tightly afraid of what could happen.

The red head kicked a leaf. "Look about earlier I just want to say that-"

There was a few shouts of Kevin's name and a few more football players ran over to them. They all began talking about tryouts later that day and laughing about someone they had bullied earlier that day. They turned their attention to Edd who had gone completely white.

"What are you doing with this dork, Kev?" One of them laughed loudly scarring Edd.

"Are you going to teach him a lesson? Is he messing with you?" Another one started eyeing up the nerd.

Kevin looked at Edd with an apologetic look before quickly replacing it with an angry glare. "Earlier this morning this dork's rude ass friends got in between a conversation we were having. I was just going to teach him that it's not polite to be so rude to someone who's talking to them."

The two football players laughed and shoved Edd down onto the ground. The nerd's bag opened and spilled his work all over the grass. He tried to pick up his papers but his hand was stomped on painfully. Edd cried out and tried to tug his hand away but had no luck. Kevin laughed then told his friends to leave the dork alone. They had better things to do than waste their time on a stupid dork.

The nerd was left alone as he slowly gathered up his papers and carefully putting them back in the bag. The walk home was filled with paranoia and deep thinking as Edd wondered what Kevin was really going to say. He could tell that it was going to be serious. Maybe if the football players didn't show up he would have walked home without feeling crappy. He knew he should tell Eddy but he really didn't want to have to deal with it.

Edd let himself into his empty house without bothering to turn on the lights. No one would be home tonight anyway. Determined to turn his night into a better one he quickly cleaned everything and began a hot bath. The bath was exactly what he needed as he was in a much better mood now that he was sanitized to the core. He prepared himself dinner and headed to his room to begin his homework.

The ravenette turned on his laptop and set his food off to the side to cool. Carefully he took out his homework and did his best to make the papers straight again. There honestly wasn't a lot on his first day but he would prefer to get a head start so he could focus on other things if they came up. The IM on his computer went off. Edd smiled when he realized it was Eddy. He sure had a way of finding loop holes in his grounding period.

**Eddy Hotdix:** Sockhead r u on?

**Ed the Monster Hunter:** Double Dee!

**Eddward M. Vincent:** Salutations friends! How was your travels home and nights thus far?

**Eddy Hotdix:** Rly DD? Ur online u can like not be all manners and shit.

-Mine was alright I guess. Parents wont stop nagging.

**Eddward M. Vincent:** It is just part of my nature Eddy. I'm sorry to hear that Eddy, hopefully they'll let up on their grounding of you.

**Ed the Monster Hunter:** double dee youll never believe what sarah did

-she broke moms favourite platter

-her and jimmy were baking and she dropped it in the kitchen

Edd reached over for his food but decided to write a quick message.

**Eddward M. Vincent:** Oh dear that's terrible Ed! Is everyone okay? I'm going to be delayed I need to eat my dinner before it gets too cold. I'll be right back!

The ravenette watched as his friends had a conversation without him about how much food they ate that day. As per usual Ed talked only about gravy and buttered toast while Eddy talked about the nice fast food he ate when he got home. Eddy switched to talking about his rad muscles that none of the girls really seemed to notice. Edd quickly finished his plate of food and went downstairs to wash his dish. Upon returning he found that his friends had said goodbye and that they'd meet up at the mailbox to walk to school tomorrow.

Edd sighed and replied before logging himself off to focus on his work. It didn't take him but an hour to finish everything. He decided to spend the rest of his night organizing his class binders and rewriting any notes that appeared sloppy to him. Finally 10 pm arrived and he called it a night. He went to sleep only thinking of negative things that night.


	3. Chapter Two

**Author's Note:** Hello yes! It's great to see you all again! I hope you do enjoy this next segment of the story. I would really appreciate reviews! As a fair warning there is parental abuse in this chapter so please be careful if you are triggered by it. I'll try to put up trigger warnings in the Author's note. I hope you all have a wonderful morning, it's two am here!

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Kevin woke up to the smell of bacon and something sweet. He loved it in the morning when this happened. Not that it was rare but it usually put him in a good mood. Sitting up in his bed he thought about what had transpired the day before he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of guilt for harassing the tall nerd. Not that he was going to let it ruin his day or anything. Opening an app on his phone Kevin scrolled through the news feed on his favourite social site.

After a few posts about stupid things that his friends did he set the phone down on the nightstand next to the bed. Stretching the red head decided to finally get out of bed and head downstairs to get some of the delicious food he was smelling.

Standing in the kitchen, over a plate of food, was a tall woman sipping a cup of coffee. Her hair was bright red in a pixie like fashion. It had been a few months since the last haircut. The woman was well built to the point any small movement would flex her muscles. Said woman looked up as Kevin entered the room; she looked over his attire.

"Gee son pajama day already at school?" Her tone was light and teasing.

Kevin gave back a sarcastic laugh, "No mom, just haven't changed yet."

"I heard laughter!" A man's deep voice boomed from the room across the hall.

The two looked over at each other sharing a knowing look of happiness. Kevin's father entered the kitchen and gave his son a firm pat on the back before leaning over and placing a gentle kiss on his wife's lips. The younger red head rolled his eyes at their affection for one another. It was nice to see his family in a good mood during the morning. Usually his dad was asleep from his late nights working at a lumber-mill in Lemon Tree. The commute was hellish but somehow he managed to get to work and back everyday. His mother on the other hand had a completely different story. After battling breast cancer for two years and winning she had become a big advocate for women's health in Peach Creek. They had changed so much since the day his mother was told she wasn't going to make it after six months. His father had quit his job at the jawbreaker factory and his mother lost most of her hair and muscle that she loved dearly. To see them now as they are made their son proud to be a part of the family.

"Son you should hurry up to school. You stayed in bed pretty late this morning." Kevin's father said while pouring a cup of coffee.

The football star sighed dramatically then hustled out of the kitchen into his bed. His father was correct however as he only had a half hour before school started for the day. Not that it would honestly take him a half hour to get there or ready. Throwing off his pajamas he took a good look in the full length mirror next to his desk. The football star's body was well sculpted from the training he usually did with his mother and at school. This next season was going to be the best one yet. For sure this time he'd run Lemon Tree into the ground.

As he exited his house he noticed the trio of dorks not far ahead of him. Honestly he didn't want to have to deal with the shorter ed's terrible attitude this early in the morning but he was more upset about the tall nerd. After they had left him yesterday Kevin proceeded to yell at his team mates to leave Edd alone. There was no reason to risk their ability to be on the team just so they could harass the nerd.

Said nerd looked behind him like he always did. Edd's blue eyes grew wide and quickly returned his gaze to in front of him. Kevin sighed a breath of relief as the walk to school was a quiet one. As soon as he walked through the entrance of the school everyone seemed to greet him. All the chatter around him was great hearing praise for once again getting star quarterback on the team. Kevin soaked up the attention loving being the one people talked about. Girls would come up to him in the hall and give him their numbers and guys would pat his back while cheering his name.

The day passed without event really. Everyone got set into their normal routines and adjusted them around new things. For the red head there wasn't anything different with his schedule which he was ever thankful for. But a lot of his classmates were switched out of physical education to somewhere else. Not that he didn't mind but the new classmates were terrible to keep conversation with. It was all the students who didn't bother with physical requirements. If to make anything worse he had to share once again the class with the ed's. The only one that was any good at it was Ed.

He could lift weights nearly three times his own weight with ease. The smelly ed was great at anything that he was required to do although he wasn't very smart about it. He'd always do things the hardest way but yet get them done a lot faster than others. Kevin considered asking him to join the football team. Back in their middle school times Ed was a fantastic player and ended up bringing them to the championships. It was strange to the red head that no one really gave him much credit to doing so much.

Everyone was waiting around in tiny groups chatting quietly to one another. The coach entered the gymnasium and proceeded to line up everyone. Kevin was in the middle while the Ed's were in different areas. Edd was the very last one to be called for roll call and scampered to his place looking fearful. It was known over the entire cul-de-sac that he had previous issues with gym before he had moved from Lemon Tree.

"Alright Kiddies, being as we have a knew schedule we also have a few new requirements that are set forth by the state. Now I don't make these requirements or rules that I'm about to tell you. If you have any medical concerns that I need to know about please tell me now." The coach bellowed making his voice echo off the walls.

One kid raised his hand. "I have asthma sir."

"Well then I guess you'll get a special treatment by sitting out of most of the participation but you can do the other parts for this." The coach flipped through papers on his clipboard scribbling something down next to the kid's name. "So these new rules and requirements are put in place to help our school population help health records. From a few surveys not enough of you guys are being motivated enough to exercise."

Kevin smiled at the idea of the dorks trying to exercise and do things that would require a lot of physical stamina.

"What we're going to do is weigh each of you and set a goal depending on said weight. You'll get a passing grade in the class if you can meet the goal. It's really simple, you weigh in every week and during that week you record your meals and snacks."

All the students fidgeted looking at one another and whispering to others.

"That being said you will have to participate in class. Some days we'll go running other days we'll play games. You'll need to suit down everyday. It's as simple as we could make it." The coach sighed and pulled papers out from the clip. "You need to take this form home and fill it out. Bring it back tomorrow and you'll get extra credit that will go to your grade."

Kevin peeked towards the end of the line cracking a smile at the tall dork. Edd was sweating from just standing there and he fidgeted with his white class uniform. It was going to be a hoot to watch him try to participate. The coach handed out the forms and let the kids do what ever they wanted for the last ten minutes. Kevin was actually excited to see if this would motivate people to move around more.

With a smile the red head walked over to Edd before the other dorks did. Edd seemed to pale even more his legs were visiably shaking.

"G-Good day Kevin! I-interesting class this one seems to be. Are you excited for the endeavors we are going to take?" He stuttered out pulling his hat down over his eyes a bit.

"It's great actually! Seeing you dorks try to be active is going to be a fucking laugh!" Kevin smiled. "Look seeing as usually Mr. Gobbs sets people up in pairs why don't you be mine? Instead of those two dorks."

"Kevin please watch your language! We are at school and it is never polite to swear! Although I do not comprehend why you would want me to be your partner in this class. Ed would be a much better suit for you since he is more physically inclined than I." The dork seemed to squirm under the football star's gaze.

"Aw you're no fun double dork. Rolf got transferred out and I don't really like any other dork or nerd that's here. You know? You're probably the only one barely tolerable here." Kevin sighed knowing that the dork was set in his ways.

"Hey shovel-chin go be a shit somewhere else!" Eddy called out walking with Ed by his side.

Other kids looked over at the two in mention. "Look Double Dork just think about it right? You're smart enough to evaluate your beneficial...uh whatchamacallits. Later DORK."

Edd watched Kevin leave laughing and looked over to his two friends who seemed angry. They talked about what had gone down which only seemed to make Eddy angrier. It wasn't soon after that the school bell rang letting everyone go home for the day.

As per usual Edd had stayed behind to do his activities. Saying goodbye to his friends he hustled to the nurses office to help organize files. Upon entering the room he saw the scale in the corner. He would really like to get some of his homework done before he headed home. Also there wasn't a scale at his house so it would benefit him to do it right here.

"Excuse me, Ms Eri." Edd called into the tiny office that was sectioned off of the room.

"Yes Eddward, is everything alright?" Ms Eri walked out of the room holding files. The school nurse was short but slender like a model. She had soft brown curls that cascaded down her face and back. Her hazel eyes were kind and loving.

"I was wondering if it was alright to complete a piece of my homework here before I began to work? Mr. Gobbs has this form for class that we need to fill out. A section of it requires measuring my weight and height. I do not posses a scale at home and was inquiring if it be acceptable to use this one here." Edd pointed at the scale. Ms Eri followed his pointing and smiled.

"Of course Eddward! Would you like me to do it for you? I haven't really much to do right now." She offered kindly.

Edd's eyes lighted up brightly. "That would be most splendid! Thank you very much!"

Ms Eri took the paper that the tall nerd fished from his neat messenger bag. "Alright so we should weigh you first. Take off your shoes and step onto the scale."

Edd did so quickly and stepped on the scale watching it hit one side with a clink. The nurse took her time figuring out the right measurements then wrote it down on the paper. "Next let's measure your height! Stand here with your ankles against the wall and with good posture."

"Is it alright if I wear my hat? Will it tamper with correct measurements?" Edd worriedly touched his hat.

Ms Eri smiled but shook her head slowly. "If you don't want to take it off you don't have to although it will mess with the measurements."

Edd nodded and decided to take his hat off. Black hair fell from the hat down to his lower back. "Mother and father always say that looks will destract others and put my learning into jeopardy. The attention is not good for a growing brain."

Ms Eri nodded, "I see you didn't have to remove your hat though dear. I know how important it is for you. If I may ask how are your scars?"

"They're fine although I do get headaches from them from time to time." The school nurse had once been a Lemon Tree EMT that attended to his wounds. It was a scary experience for Edd and remembering it brought him sickness.

"Alright there you go!" She handed the paper to him. He took it and placed it back into his bag.

Putting his hat on was probably the hardest thing he had to do to get ready. His hair required boby pins all over to hold it in place so it wouldn't move when he did. In truth he wasn't ashamed of his hair or scars but he didn't want to upset his parents. They never allowed him to cut his own hair or show it off. It was probably related to the accident back in Lemon Tree.

"Here Eddward," Ms Eri handed him the stack of files from earlier, "I need you to organize these and then lock the door on your way out. I have a staff meeting in 5 minutes and wont be back for a while. Thank you for your help today!"

The ravenette said his farewell and worked on sorting before leaving. His stomach growled loudly and decided to head home to get something to eat. Much to his surprise he saw his mother's silver car in the driveway. It was rare to see her home at this time of day. With gusto he ran the last few feet to his house and let himself in. Edd began to regret coming home so soon.

His mother stood in the kitchen glaring into a bottle of wine. She turned her attention to the tall nerd when he walked in. They shared similar eye colours although her's appeared to be colder. Her skin was pale white and her body was thin.

"H-hello mother-" Edd began with a smile walking towards her.

"How dare you ignore your chores we set forth for you! You don't think we didn't realize it?" Her voice cuts him off and freezes him in place. "Have you even begun on any of your class work that is needed?"

"I am sorry mother I was attending to the activities at school. Ms Eri needed more help today than I thought. I promise I won't slack off again! I am really sorry." Edd stared at the ground hoping that his father would suddenly appear. At least his wrath would be less verbal.

His mother smirked cruely, "So you have not done any of your work? That is what your silence to the question is telling me. Give me your school bag and go upstairs. Your father and I need to have a talk."

Edd nodded and handed her his bag. Their hands touched and she recoiled like he had burnt her. Without looking up he rushed out of the kitchen, up a flight of stairs, and down a long hallway to his room where he shut the door softly. Leaning against the door he slumped down onto the floor. Tears escaped his eyes as he pulled his legs close to him.

Edd's computer lit up with a 'ding' letting him know that someone had messaged him. Hurriedly he ran to turn off the sound. The message was from Eddy.

**Eddy Hotdix:** Hey dd! Whats up bro?

**Eddward M. Vincent:** I can not talk right now Eddy. Mother is home and father will be soon to. Unfortunately tonight is not a good night to have social interactions.

**Eddy Hotdix:** Damn dd sorry. Hey if anything happens tho u lemme kno K? Also did u do the gym hw? LOL i'm 5'4 and 140 pounds. Im a hunky stud

**Eddward M. Vincent:** My apologies Eddy I must go. I think father has pulled into the drive way. I'll see you in the morning at school!

Just as the nerd managed to log off the computer his mother called for him to come down. Edd tried to hurry himself down there as to not anger her wrath anymore than it already was. His father was indeed downstairs looking tired and worn. He had come home from a big CEO meeting that lasted all day and he was really in no mood for his wife and son's antics.

"Alright honey what is the matter. What did Eddward do?" He sighed pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"He's been neglecting his home chores and hanging out with those vile friends of his. He doesn't actively do his school work like we have raised him to do. Our son is getting out of line and look at this!" She hands him the paper from gym. "He's neglecting himself as well! I mean look at his weight!"

Edd stared at her dumbfounded, "What is wrong with my weight mother? I am of good health my weight is fine!"

His father let out a sigh and looked at the paper his wife held. "Look Estella, the boy is fine. It's barely the start of the school year I'm sure nothing is really in desperate need of working on. Eddward," the smart ravenette stood at attention at the sound of his name, "You can not neglect the things we have set for you here. It is very important that you come home immediately to do your chores from now on. As well as your weight nothing is wrong with it although you are towards the heavier side. I'm sure with a proper diet you'll be fine."

Estella looked like she was going to blow a fuse. "Now I'm going to head to bed and I don't want to hear a sound from either of you two. Estella I'll see you when you decided to retire for the night. Eddward good night son."

As soon as her husband left the room Estella turned to her son. She took a deep drink of her wine and stumbled over to him. Edd gulped fearing what she would do. "You're a fucking disgrace you know that? Your father came home to have to deal with you. I'm going to be setting your diet and you will come home everyday with no socialization unless I authorize it."

Edd stared at her with his mouth open. Sure his father had grounded him from his extracurricular activities but his mother was going to far. To not have any ability to socialize with Ed and Eddy was going to drive him mad.

Estella started to stumble out of the kitchen when she stopped and turned back. She motioned for her son to come over to where she stood. Edd hesitated at first but walked over slowly. In an instant Estella slapped her son across the face muttering the word "worthless". Her clawed fake nails scratched Edd's face painfully. His mother laughed as she left the room.

The smart ravenette raised his hand to his face and pulled away looking at the blood that was on it. It was going to be a really hard time figuring out what to tell Eddy and Ed when he saw them the next morning. With a sigh he went back to his room and locked the door. He hadn't any work that was needed to be done besides the gym forum. Looking down at it he sighed at the marks on it.

**Name:** _Eddward Marion Vincent:_

**Age:**_15_

**Height:** _5' 7"_

**Weight:**_145 lbs_

**How active are you on a scale of 1 – 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest):**_Two_

**How many times a day do you eat?:**_Three times a day._

Edd sighs and turns to his computer finally done with the damned forum. He didn't care about his weight or anything; he was healthy by his standards. It didn't matter now that the forum was filled out. He would stop worrying about it and enjoy a few articles about science discoveries.

It was nearly two am when he decided he would sleep for the night. Edd cleaned up his facial wounds and curled up into his blankets. He hoped his mother would be gone in the morning.


	4. Chapter Three

**Author's Note:** Well hot dog we reached 2k views! I'm so excited that you guys really seem to be enjoying this! If you can you should review it if you find anything out of place. Or if you just want to yell at me or whatevs

**Warning: Bullying and Self harm**

* * *

Edd never thanked the stars more than he did when he woke up. His mother was gone as was his father. Any traces of them from the night before seemed to disappear save for the injury upon his face. Double d didn't really care all too much about it. Rather he was quite thankful his father hadn't been in his drunken state. Usually that's when things get bad to the point Edd wasn't able to handle it.

As he got ready for school he found that there were a lot more sticky notes than usual. Some were scrawled in a terrible handwriting and others were pristine. The majority of the notes were stationed in the kitchen laying out a meal plan for Edd. The smart boy sighed looking at all the notes. They weren't going to let up on the coming home right after school bit. Not that it really hurt Edd's feelings but he felt sad for the loss of his other activities.

He gathered a fresh set of clothing for a hot bath before he would meet up with his friends. Locking the door behind him Edd wandered over to the bath and turned it onto full blast. With a slight hum he poured out a few caps full of bubble soap in his favourite scent and began to undress. He folded his clothes neatly before depositing them into the laundry hamper. Turning back to the bath the teen jumped and turned off the faucet.

Slowly he stepped into the water wincing at the hotness of the bath. His partially tan skin darkened as his skin warmed. Once he was fully in the bath he pulled his legs up to his chest mind wandering off to some sort of darkness.

Eddy looked down at his watch and then back up at his friend's empty house. Was it possible that he had already left for school? Not that it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for the sockhead but he was never one to break his promises or agreements. After chatting with him last night Eddy had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Their lovable oaf of a friend Ed was on late at night and ended up chatting with Eddy about what might have happened.

The two were convinced that Edd was probably yelled about but was fine otherwise. Surely there wasn't much wrong in the nerd's life besides lacking his parent's love and affection. Eddy knocked on the front door and waited for a response. After not receiving one the shorter ed tried the door handle. Finding it open the duo let themselves in calling their friend's name.

Eddy instructed Ed to search the downstairs while he went to check the sock head's room. Climbing up the stairs he heard water splashing from the bathroom just a bit away from him. Glad to hear that his friend was indeed in the house.

Eddy knocked loudly on the door, "Double D are you almost done? We're going to be late if we don't hurry up!"

The short teen smiled knowing that was one of the most terrifying and yet motivational things to say to his friend. Edd had never been late a day in his life. A few minutes passed and there was no sound coming out of the bathroom. Eddy tried the door handle and found it to be locked. Typical of the dork but yet oddly concerning at a time like this.

"Hey Ed come here and help me with this door!" Eddy called down the hall.

Before Eddy could even move Ed was there and pushing harshly on the door. It gave way with a loud creak. The shorter teen pushed past his smelly friend and froze at the sight before him. The bubbles had all faded and Edd was underwater with his eyes open. Eddy rushed to pull his friend up out of the water. As he scooped his friend out he noticed how cold the water was.

"Double D? Double d can you hear me?" Eddy shook his friend.

At first Double D didn't seem responsive but he came around quickly and started coughing. It was a relief to the two other Ed's that their friend was alright.

"Eddy why are you in my bathroom?" Edd stared at him once he was done coughing.

"You were late coming out and do we really have to talk about this while you're naked?" Eddy shoved his friend off of him.

Edd turned bright red as he tried to cover himself. "Please leave immediately!"

Without being told a second time the two left the bathroom and waited outside. It hadn't been more than two minutes when their friend re-emerged completely dressed with his hat on.

"We should really hurry to class! I can't risk being late at all. Mother and father will be so disappointed in me." Edd ran into his room and back out with his messenger bag tightly pulled against his chest. "I'll explain later but we need to go now."

The Ed's walked faster than they ever had to school with the smart one in the front. Luckily they managed to barely make it before the warning bell sounded. Once they entered class things seemed to settle down for the Ed's. Edd was lost in thought thinking back to the incident at his house. One minute he was reciting complex math equations he studied about online that night and the next he was being woken up by his friend.

The nerd snuck a glance over his shoulder to check on his two friends. Much to his surprise he found the two of them chatting and looking over in his direction a few times. Edd turned around and put his hand to his cheek rubbing it thoughtfully. Surely he had worried them by falling asleep but he was very well off this morning. The teen decided to talk to them during their lunch period.

Classes passed and much to Kevin's dislike projects were already being assigned. The day was going by so slowly but he did notice that the Ed's were nearly late this morning. It was strange since the nerd of the group was always so punctual. Maybe he over slept? That really amused the red head as he chewed the end of a pencil. This teacher could go on and on about what not to do in his class that he would rarely talk about anything that actually benefited the class.

Asking to leave the class the red head headed to his usual bathroom hangout spot. What better way to waste the class time than by doing something that was mildly entertaining? As he pushed the door open he heard voices talking that were instantly recognizable. Edd and Eddy were in his favourite bathroom. He was about to leave when he heard Eddy practically yell.

"What the fuck sockhead? What the hell happened?"

There was a soft sigh, "Eddy I merely fell asleep in the bath. I had a really late night last night..."

"What's wrong with your face? Why are you wearing that bandage?" Eddy's voice decreased a little but a ripping sound took place.

Edd cried out in pain. "Why would you do that Eddy?"

Kevin slowly walked into bathroom closing the door as quietly as he could. He looked at the mirror that was above the sinks. Eddy and Edd were in the middle of the room. Edd was holding his cheek in pain while Eddy just stared blankly.

"Who did that to you? Was it your father again?" Eddy grabbed his taller friends arms tightly and shook him.

"Eddy do not dare insinuate that my father would do such a thing! I tripped over my feet and hit my face against Jim." Edd's arms dropped revealing in the mirror the deep red scratches on his cheek.

Kevin stared at the reflection for a few seconds before opening up the bathroom door and shutting it loudly. He was curious as to what Eddy had meant by again and what actually happened to the nerd's face. In a few seconds of the door shutting Eddy walked out of the bathroom and down the hall not noticing Kevin standing against the side of the wall.

As Edd tried to leave the bathroom he was grabbed by Kevin who dragged him back into the room. The taller nerd tried desperately to remove the football star's grip from his upper arm but with no avail. Edd whimpered as he was shoved against the sinks. Kevin glared down at him eyeing the scratches even more.

"Who did this to you and don't give me this 'I fell' shit." Kevin pointed at the scratches.

"I do not understand what you mean. I did fall on my cactus nothing else happened." Edd folded his arms across his chest. His blue eyes met fierce green ones with such contact he had to look down.

"Eddy said that your father hit you before?" The red head watched the dork squirm underneath his powerful gaze. "Double Dork did your father hurt you?"

"I told you that I fell on my cactus. That is all that happened. My father did not hit me nor has he ever. Please keep yourself out of my business." Edd huffed and pushed past Kevin intending to leave the bathroom.

The football star grabbed Edd's wrist and pulled him roughly back. The nerd was wide eyed worried that he had done something to provoke this reaction. Kevin glared at the dork before him trying his best to calm his anger. He hated it when people lied to him so blatantly. Their past may have not been such a great one but that didn't mean the present had to be shit.

"Double dork are you really fucking trying to get on my nerves?" Kevin's grip tightened on the nerd's wrist.

The nerd could only look down at his wrist that was losing sensation. The last time he had spoken up about the one time his father had hit him it ended very terribly. If anything he would keep quiet since he didn't want to go through the pain again and the hate. His father was now trusting him and besides it wasn't his father. His mother was over emotional when she drank and was rather pleasant when sober. Last night had just been a fluke in their system.

"Please let go of me, Kevin. I really need to return to my study hall time. I should get started on my work." Edd pulled his wrist from the football star's grasp.

The star let out a sigh then pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright Double dork, if you really want to be a shit about this and 'fess up then fine. I'm not going to even try to help you in the future."

Kevin left the bathroom in a flash leaving Edd alone with his thoughts. The nerd collapsed to the floor his legs finally giving out on him. He fought against the tears that stung his eyes while trying to calm himself down. The chance was given to him to become better acquaintances with probably the best asset to have and he blew it. Edd sat there crying for a good while and quickly jumped up when he heard the door open.

Just his luck it was the football players from the other day. As if knowing who had entered the bathroom Edd's hand started to throb painfully. The nerd ducked into the dirtiest stall to avoid being seen but regretted it almost instantly. The voice in his head was screaming about how detestible the conditions were but he was in no mood to be beaten up.

"So did you hear about Jimmy and Sarah? Like for real they got their shit down pat man! I don't honestly like either but damn they're going to go far in life. Makes me jealous you know?" One of them laughed.

"Omar is it true you beat the crap out of the dork? The one that was being a shit to Kevin? Dude what's it like?" Another one seemed fairly interested in banging on the counter.

Edd tried to get a better look at who was talking but ended up making a squeaking sound on the toilet seat that he was perched on. Cursing the sun he realized the bathroom had become terribly quiet.

"Looks like we have a guest." The one named Omar kicked the door in on the stall that Edd was perched in. "You wanna know how it feels?"

Omar trudged in, grabbed the nerd by his arm, and threw him out of the stall. Edd tried to scamper away but one of them grabbed his hat. Instinct took over and he held with a death grip onto the hat.

"What's under the hat dork?" Laughter emitted from the two.

"I beg of you please do not do this. It is not worth it!" Edd's voice cracked a bit revealing the fear he was so desperately trying to fight off.  
"Omar take off the dork's hat. This dude doesn't get to have special treatment. If we can't wear hats why does he get to?" The one stepped on Edd's left foot harshly forcing the teen to turn his attention elsewhere.

The hat came off with a ripping sound; the pins attached to both his hair and hat pulled so hard strands came out. Edd's hair fell around his shoulders and tears left his eyes but he didn't give them the satisfaction of screaming. Omar looked at his friend with a smile.

"Damn dork I didn't know you were a girl. Are you a faggot? Holy shit Jason he totally has it for men." Omar took a handful of Edd's hair in his hand and pulled roughly. Double D groaned and tried to scratch at the hands.

"Dude let's give him a swirly! That hair is just too pretty for his ugly face." Jason cheered and pulled Edd up roughly.

"Please no don't do this to me! I did nothing to you! Why are you being so cruel?" the teen started crying even harder than before at the idea of being completely filthy.

Jason and Omar shared a spiteful look then dragged the dork to the stall they found him in.

Kevin decided to go back to the bathroom once he noticed some friends from the team walk towards that way. Surprisingly it was a longer walk that he originally intended since Nazz stopped him to chat about homecoming and the game. His two friends walked out of the bathroom laughing and patting one another on the back.

"Hey Kevin! You should have heard him scream! See yah at practice man!" The two quickly ran off before Kevin could process what they had told him.

Whimpering and puking was heard when the door opened. It could have honestly been anyone that his two friends fucked with but out of the entire school only one would mutter 'filthy, filthy, filthy!'

As Kevin rounded the corner he wasn't prepared for the sight he came to. Edd was sprawled out on the floor supporting himself on his arms, he was sopping wet without his hat on, and there was a lot of foam puke on the floor.

"Holy shit double d are you alright?" Kevin ran over and knelt next to him.

Edd glared through the hair that was in his face at the football star. He was done with people especially jocks and bullies. "Get away from me! Haven't you done enough? Do not dare try to help me."

The smart teen broke down into a sob letting himself crumble onto the floor. The highest point of his unhappiness was hit and he didn't want to deal with anyone.

Kevin felt his heart break a little regretting saying what he did before. The red head had to do something to make up for what happened. With a sigh he stood up and walked over to where the hat laid. As it left the ground a few clumps of hair fell out of it. The two other jocks had over done the harassing. He would deal with them later.

"I'm so filthy. It'll take years to get this off of my skin. I need to be disinfected." Edd muttered to himself.

"Hey Edd," Kevin held out the hat for the dork to take, "I'm really sorry I lost my cool before. Listen I know you probably hate me but like I can get you a shower if you want. In the locker room they have one shower that has really hot water. Not the best water pressure tho."

The smart teen stared up at Kevin like he had just offered him a million dollars. "That would be marvelous but what is in it for you?"

"Just trying to be a good guy dude."

Edd nodded and the two of them headed out of the bathroom. They took the back way to the locker rooms so as to avoid anyone seeing them. The teen wasted no time getting ready for his shower although wary of the red head seeing his body he couldn't bring himself to care. He was beyond alright with the filth layer on him.

Kevin watched Edd as he started to take off his clothing. "Mister Barr please do not watch."

Feeling his cheeks heat up he muttered 'whatever' and went to the other section of the locker room. Edd parted with his clothing faster than he thought possible not caring to fold them up. The heat felt so good on his scalp like all the filth was washing from him. His face stung from the scratches but it was a nice feeling compared to anything.

Although there was no soap to use Edd still scrubbed at his skin with his hands not caring about the stinging sensations left at certain points. He let out a groan of pleasure as he stood under the spray. Sadly he turned the faucet off and stood watching the water drain off of himself.

Kevin returned with a change of clothes, his face was bright red. "Here they're clean."

The ravenette took them happily and changed despite still being completely wet from the water. It was so refreshing to feel clean and in a pair of clothes.

"Thank you Kevin, it was really nice of you to do this for me." Kevin looked at Edd in his eyes and coughed lightly.

"Yeah it's no problem I just feel really shitty for what my team mates did to you. I'm sorry about everything."

"I am sorry for my actions as well although you must understand that I can not just open up to you." Edd gathered up his clothes and decided to discard them in a nearby trash can. "You and I have never been on great terms for the fact that I hang out with Eddy. On top of that you are the highest in the school 'food chain' if you wish to call it. As I am on the bottom of the figurative chain. Kevin you are in no way obligated to help me out. I know that I am a burden on many."

Kevin stared at the tall dork dumbfounded. Was that really how he say himself? As a burden and as a problem. "Double D?"

"Kevin, I am very sorry for putting you through this. I can not thank you enough for helping me out. It may not seem like a big deal for you but it is for me. I honestly think I am going to go home today. I am too tired and sick to really function like I am supposed to."

Edd walked out of the locker room leaving the red head staring frozen in place by his words. The ravenette didn't want to be in the terrible school anymore for the day. His parents would be livid knowing he cut school just to go home but honestly the nerd couldn't force himself to stay any longer.

Upon entering his study hall, Edd was greeted by the classroom staring at him. It didn't bother the tall teen as he went and grabbed his things. He told his teacher that he felt very ill and proceeded to leave the school grounds soon after.

Eddy would be angry knowing Edd had skipped out on things and Ed would be sad. The walk home was quick and thankfully his parents were gone. The house was dark and quiet as per usual but it seemed more negative. It was like everything in life was finally getting to him. His parents hated him for not being perfect, people at school bullied him just because, and now the loneliness he thought didn't exist grabbed ahold of him.

Upon entering his room he didn't bother to flip on the light. Instead he went straight to his bed and opened the drawer to his nightstand. Pulling open the book that laid inside a shiny object gleamed in the light from his only window. A sense of fear ran through the teen's body as he picked up the object.

Last night while searching science forums he somehow managed to end up on a depressed site. Curriosity got the better of him and soon his night turned into learning about razors and what some people did with them.

Edd didn't acknowledge the knocking downstairs on the front door as he lined the blade up straight on his arm. With a sigh he pulled the metal across his skin slowly. As a little blood slowly rose to the surface he felt better.

"Hey Double Dork! Are you here?" Kevin's voiced called out into the seemingly empty house.

Edd's eyes grew wide as he came to his own senses. The handle to the door of his room began shaking.

"Shit." Edd swore and darted into his bathroom.

This was not the day he needed.


	5. Chapter Four

**AN: **Oh goodness, I'm sorry that it took me so long to update this! It was really hard to figure out how to go about this chapter and I think I have it now! I might be super busy and wont update it quickly but do expect another chapter soon!

Reviews are always appreciated! Thank you for your time!

**Warnings: Self Harm &amp; Abuse Mention**

* * *

Kevin wondered why he was standing outside the dork's room. Why did he decide to follow him back to his house? There was no reason other than pity. He felt bad that the kid had it so rough. Maybe if he apologized it would all be over and he could go back to horsing around with his pals.

As he opened the door to he room a blob ran into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. An audible locking sound was heard which threw Kevin off guard. Edd turned on his faucet and put his arm under the cold stream. With his other hand he pried open the medicine cabinet and reached for the bandages.

"Hey Double Dork are you alright?" Kevin wandered over to the desk which was labeled as such. There wasn't very much on the desk that was particularly interesting.

"Why are you here? Please leave my house at once!" Edd shouted wishing his day was just over with.

"Dude can I just say a thing then I'll go?" Kevin tapped the glass of an ant farm. The tiny creatures swarmed out of their tunnels.

"Please hurry with your message and then find your way out." The teen was relieved when he managed to get the bandage on his arm. Not that it was a big cut or deep but it really pressed his idea of perfection into unsafe boundaries.

"I'm just sorry for what I did." Kevin sighed feeling good that he had gotten it off his chest. "Anyway see you later dork!"

Edd stared at the bathroom door angrily. If that was really all Kevin was going to say then he could have just waited until tomorrow. Hearing the front door shut signaled him that it was alright to come out of the bathroom. Shutting off the faucet, Edd let himself out into his room. Thankfully the jock didn't look to carefully at the desk. The blade laid in plain view on his laptop. Edd just sighed and sat in his chair staring at it. Fear was just another thing that would soon come to pass.

Eddy was furious. First sock head lies to him and then he ditches school? What the hell was that brainiac doing? At first he thought the sockhead was kidding when he walked into class in different clothing than normal with his hair still dripping wet. No one could hear the conversation that the teacher had with the teen but he seemed quite upset about something.

Oh Eddy was going to ream that kid's ass. How dare he become a rebel in school without him although this would make for a good scam. Perfect teen finally turned bad by peer pressure. All Eddy had to really do now was figure out how to play this out in a way kids would be interested.

The short ed checked his phone while he roamed the halls of the school. There was a new message from someone who Eddy hoped was one of the girls he'd given his number to earlier. Sadly it wasn't from a girl but from Edd. What a let down. Eddy clicked on the messaging icon and waited for the item to display itself.

**Sockhead:** 9:37 a.m.

Eddy, I am sorry to inform you that I will not be able to hang out with you nor Ed after school for awhile. Mother and father need me at home to take better care of the place. All after school activities with you and Ed will cease until further notice. Although do not feel alone as my extracurricular activities are also being ceased. Please try to pay attention in classes today!

Eddward

What the literal fuck? Eddy was fuming this wasn't fair at all! How the hell did that nerd even think it was alright to send this? Eddy needed him for his next scam more than his parents wanted an already clean house. No this wouldn't do.

"Damn it all double d." Eddy hissed at his phone before sending a message back to him.

**Me:** 10:45 a.m.

Wat the fuck, dd? I fucking need u for a god damn scam! U know how shitty it is at home for me. Ur not the only who has a shitty time at home k? U already promised to help me the other day so why r u backing out now? Just because _u_ had a bad day? WELL grow up every1 does. UR being a piece of shit right now. Im coming over

Oh Eddy was going to do some major yelling at that kid. During the lunch period he decided to skip school for the day and go over to his friend's house. Ed tagged along since he was worried and sad about his friend not being able to spend time with him. Not that it was really going to be that way for long. If the sockhead couldn't hang out with them then they would hang out with him.

"Eddy does Double Dee hate us?" Ed asked when they reached their friend's house.

"No lumpy but his parents do. And you know Edd, he's just is dying for his parents attention." Eddy let himself in.

The house was dark as per usual but it didn't stop Eddy from making his way up the stairs to his friend's room. It wasn't that hard to navigate the house was spotless so there wasn't much in the way. Although at times it was scary with no pictures or decorations around the house.

Eddy climbed the stairs two at a time with Ed following close behind. When they reached the nerd's room they found the door to be locked. That wasn't unusual either since Edd had this thing with germs coming in through the drafts.

"Double D let us in." Eddy called through looking behind him at Ed.

There was no reply which had struck a small cord of anxiety inside the short Ed.

"Double D?"

* * *

"Double D?"

Edd looked over at the door. He was weak. He'd hate to admit it but after Kevin left the house he flew in to a panic and injured himself more than intended. However with the lose of blood and not eating, Edd was in no way able to move. The bleeding had stopped thankfully but he just had no energy to do anything.

"What is it Eddy?" The sockhead called out hoping he was loud enough.

"Open the door will yah?" Eddy banged on it hoping it would hustle the nerd.

"I can't Eddy. Mother and Father forbid me seeing and hanging out with you right now. Mother was very unhappy last night. I'm sure with time I'll be able to meet with you but for now you must go." Edd pushed himself up off the floor his head aching suddenly.

His friends banged on the door with more force the answer seeming to upset them. Thankfully for his need for clean spaces the bandages were properly put away and his arms were hidden under a long sleeved shirt he managed to dig out of the closet boxes. He hadn't worn that shirt since back when he was in middle school. It was a bit tight on him but it didn't really matter.

Ed busted into the room which startled the poor sockhead. Eddy followed in right behind not wasting a second before he started to scold his friend.

"Geez Double D you look like shit!" Eddy commented on his friends pale complexion.

Edd pouted but sat normally in the chair trying to be as neutral as possible. "Forgive me I have not been very well today. I actually feel a bit sick."

Eddy leaned in close but thought nothing of it. With a shrug he gathered their friend and bid the nerd goodbye. If there was one thing Eddy didn't usually like was getting sick. If he got sick then his voice would be funny and others would make fun of him, not that they didn't already.

The smart Ed bit his lip then sighed with relief when he heard the front door close forcefully. He was going to have to decide his method and ways about covering his cuts now. Thankfully it was nearly winter which would be easy to explain the sleeves but if it got to warm he'd need a way to cool down.

Edd's phone went off startling him out of his dazed trance. Of course it was Eddy probably going to complain about Edd's unwillingness to hang out with him. Anxiety gripped his stomach as he swiped the screen and displayed the message.

**Eddy: **12:50 p.m.

Hey DD. Im sry 4 bargining in. I didnt mean to upset you Im just really worried about you. You know that ur my bro right? Id do anything for you. Are you sure that youre okay? For real?

This was surprising to Edd genuinely. For the life of him he'd never really gotten a break from his friend's rants about the way he acted or the way others would treat him. Edd had told him of his past issues with his parents although he honestly would have rather have stressed the fact that his parents did love him and do their best for him. They just went over board at times. It was a normal thing for Edd.

But knowing Eddy he loved to complain about all parents and how shitty they were. Mostly it was true but Edd didn't want to admit that his parents were hard on him. He had a good life.

**Me: **1:03 p.m

Thank you for your concern Eddy! I am okay I promise. There is nothing wrong with me I just feel a bit ill. As such I believe that I am going to sleep now so that I can recuperate and be ready for the following day. I will talk with you tomorrow morning my friend! Goodnight.

Edd decided to do just that and sleep. Since he managed to miss the day of school there wasn't any homework that he had to do. It worried him and he honestly was concerned that this missing school would affect him in the future. However for now he'd rather much get some rest and go to school the following day as if nothing happened. Edd's parents probably wouldn't be home for a while so there was one less worry to stress over.

* * *

Eddy stared at his phone screen for awhile. He had spent so much time with the sockhead to notice when he was lying but for some reason he just didn't want to give up the ghost on this. Oh well if the nerd didn't want to rely on his best friend to help him then he would just have to deal without him.

Back in the first year of highschool Eddy had tried to get Edd to tell him where bruises around his neck came from. At the time Edd was so afraid of telling the truth he lied about it for nearly a month. During that time Eddy decided to give him the silent treatment until the sockhead decided to reveal the actual details. It worked well and Eddy was sure that this silent treatment would work again in his favour. He was nosy and over protective at times. The condition he saw his friend in today was probably the worst in a long time.

Eddy sighed and rolled over on his bed. The mattress was so worn out the springs were basically coming out of the bed. It made a terrible creaking sound which wasn't out of place to the short ed's ears. The clock beside his bed read only about 1:30 in the afternoon. It was way to early to go to bed and he couldn't just go back to school. Not that he would anyway. It was just so boring without anyone to annoy or have fun with.

Ed wasn't much help as he went back to class. Lucky dog, Eddy thought sitting up on his elbows. That lump had no fears other than monsters which he actually loved? Eddy's phone went off which startled him but gave him a slight relief to the tension in his own room.

**XXX-XXX-XXXX:** 1:45 p.m

_Hey Eddy! :)_

Eddy had never seen the number before and was curious as to who it was.

**Me: **1:46 p.m

Who is this?

**XXX-XXX-XXXX: **1:46 p.m

_It's Nazz! I got your number from Ed! :)_

**Me: **1:47 p.m

Ah Hey Nazz, what can I do for you?

Eddy thought to himself that the sockhead would be proud of his proper texting abilities.

**Nazz: 1:49 **p.m

_Actually I was wondering if you and the other two Ed's would love to come to my homecoming party? It's in a few days and all you have to do is show up! Food and Beverages is provided dude! :)_

**Me: **1:50 p.m

That would be super cool! Just text me the date and we'll be there for sure. Aren't you supposed to be in class?

**Nazz: **1:52 p.m

_Dude we have a sub and he's asleep with his mouth open! It's totally gross! Why aren't you in class?_

Eddy bit his lip before he decided to reply.

**Me: **1:54 p.m

I was bored and decided to cut class. Ain't no big deal. I do it all the time.

They proceeded to have a long conversation for most of the day. It wasn't until nearly midnight when Nazz said goodnight leaving Eddy with such happiness he'd never felt before. Talking to a girl that he had a crush on forever was nerve racking but she actually turned out to be a good person.

Eddy decided to check his social media sites before he went to bed too. Nothing interesting happened besides a friend request from Nazz. He happily accepted then proceeded to send a message to Edd.

**Eddy Hotdix: **12:52 a.m

Dude Nazz totally started talkin w/me and holy shit! We have so much in common and were going to her homecoming party this weekend. So be ready for that! We could become popular so don't mess this up. I'm really counting on this to get me in good with her.

As Eddy was about to sign off his messenger went off.

**Eddward M. Vincent:**12:54 a.m

Okay Eddy.

That was the only response that Eddy received from his friend that night even after messaging him a few more times.


End file.
